According to a recent survey, more than half of the United States population has at least one type of allergy. Allergies can range from mild annoyances to life-threatening conditions. If you want to take control of your allergies, schedule a consultation with the team of specialists at Suburban Allergy Consultants, led by allergy, asthma, & immunology specialists Corinna Bowser MD, FAAAAI, FACAAI, and Andrew Murphy MD, FAAAAI. Book a visit for your allergies by calling one of the offices in Narberth, Havertown, West Chester, West Grove, or Coatesville, Pennsylvania, or you can request one anytime using the online booking tool.
An allergy is your body’s inability to process a particular substance, called an allergen, properly. When you have an allergy to something, your immune system perceives it as a threat to your health and reacts by producing antibodies to fight it. Because the substance is otherwise harmless, your body’s allergic response is unnecessary, but nonetheless, it can leave your skin, sinuses, airways, or digestive system inflamed.
Allergies can range from mild to severe. Some allergies can make you slightly itchy, while other allergies can actually lead to death.
There are a wide variety of allergies, including:
Some food that people are commonly allergic to include:
Symptoms of food allergies include:
Seasonal allergies are one of the more common types of allergies brought on by pollen releasing from certain plants. Seasonal allergies can give you:
The effects of seasonal allergies can feel like a cold and can leave you tired and fatigued.
Some other common allergens include:
The team of specialists at Suburban Allergy Consultants have extensive experience in diagnosing allergies. First, your doctor takes a history of your symptoms and performs a physical exam. They work with you to figure out what exactly you’ve been exposed to that might be triggering your allergies.
Once they have some idea of what might be causing your allergies, they perform a skin test or a blood test to confirm their diagnosis. A skin test involves exposing your skin to a tiny and safe amount of your suspected allergen and monitoring your body’s response to determine if the allergen produces a reaction. With a blood test, your doctor takes a sample of your blood and tests it for particular antibodies.
There are a few different ways the team at Suburban Allergy Consultants can treat your allergies, like:
Your doctor works with you to determine what exactly you’re allergic to, then helps you minimize your allergies by coming up with solutions to avoid exposure to those allergens.
Medications can ease your allergy symptoms by reducing your immune system’s reaction.
For a more aggressive form of treatment, your doctor can periodically expose your body to your particular allergens, which effectively trains your immune system to stop responding to that allergen. Immunotherapy can involve injections or tablets that dissolve in your mouth, and typically takes a few years to complete.
If you have a severe or life-threatening allergy, your doctor might give you an emergency epinephrine shot for you to have on hand at all times. Emergency epinephrine can temporarily reduce your allergic reaction symptoms until you can get emergency treatment.
To learn more about how Suburban Allergy Consultants can help you with your allergies, call the office or use the online booking tool to schedule a consultation today.
